Yes. Fanucci was accurately portrayed as a type of "Black Hander" common to American urban ethnic neighborhoods in the early 1900's. Those people usually acted alone, or in very small groups, but were able to terrorize local people by cloaking themselves in the mantle of feared organizations in their native lands. Not just Italians--Jews, Irish, Eastern Europeans, too.
Not only that but the part of the novel that mentions how Fanucci was able to extort money from the people is my favorite line in the book. Something to the effect of:
He was reputed to be of the Black Hand, an offshoot of the Mafia that extorted money through threats of violence.
However, since most of the inhabitants of the neighborhood were violent themselves, Fanucci's threats were only listened to by the eldery and those without children.
